The Imporant Things In Life

I was listening to an interview with this famous Thai philosopher, and he mentioned that people tend to overlook what they really need most in favor of material things that get them nowhere.  He said poor people can be happy if they choose to be happy with what little they have – he said most people that toil away in cities are never satisfied with what their lives come to.

This guy basically gave up everything to go live a life of nothingess in fields and on farms. And he said he was happier because he could really breathe. Away from material things he could be free, supporting himself like others by catching fish in the river and eating rice he grew himself. He asked people to think about all the people who lived like this who were displaced into urban areas to make way for dams and other good-for-growth type projects.

But I think the most interesting thing he said was that people have to not only learn to breathe and find inner peace and happiness (not Kung Fu Panda style, mind you), but learn when to say no. Sometimes it's good to say no to economic growth and stay where you are, in head of better things. There's more to life than fancy cars and big houses, and capitalism only wants you if you're planning to consume consumer consume. So why do that when you can be just as happy with what you already have?

I mean, think about what you really need. Food and water, you can go a week without. A home is superfluous. You need air! If we continue to pollute the world and run it into the ground, though we may have all the SUVs and crap in the world, will we be able to even live?

Hallways in the Rainforest

Panthera is crazy.


Tiger Corridors from Panthera Cats on Vimeo.

If they honestly believe that their dream of a 'tiger corridor' will ever be fully realized... they'll be dreaming for a loooong time. I believe that's what we call a coma?

That aside, I think it's great that they're trying to do this. It really does take some guts to go out lobbying for wildlife in countries ranging from India to Burma to Indonesia. These are countries so focused on following in the footsteps of great countries like Britain and the USA economically, and are really uninterested in anything that doesn't involve getting handphones and cable tv to their entire populations. Note that Britain ran out of its own forests in about the 1700's, if not before then. The need for resources is what triggered the whole 'colonialism' thing. So if we all follow the wonderful examples given to us by our European powers, what are the Asians going to colonize for their resources? Antarctica? Mars, perhaps? You tell me.

I mean, Panthera really is making progress. Just r e a a a a l l y....reaaallly....r e aaaaa l y s l o o o o o o o o o o o o o w w w l l y y y. Of all places, they managed to secure a whole valley in Burma! Again with these military regimes caring about the environment.

I don't get it.

In a way, though, I do. I had this conversation once with somebody, and they pointed out that in a place where the people are controlled so much, things like poaching and logging are much easier to monitor. I'm not saying we should all revert to communism, but it might help if we plan on doing anything about nature. Oh, that's right, I forgot. We don't have any plans of doing anything about conserving nature.

And lastly...how are the tigers going to know it's a corridor? I get the feeling a "tigers this way please" sign isn't going to work on them. I believe this is a concept that will be interesting to see play out. Between the tigers going the wrong way and the people throwing fits, I don't know which will prove worse to watch.

Realizations of the Deep Jungle

I was watching Deep Jungle on tv the other day. And for once, a tv show actually made a point.

They were simply pointing out what caused the end to great empires and cities, like Angkor Wat. I mean back in the day, that place was booming. At 1000 square kilometers, you can imagine. That's bigger than NYC.  But what could cause the fall of such an empire?

Unsustainable expansion.

But development is inevitable, you shout. Wrong. We don't have to develop, aka continuing to destroy nature. It's just required to uphold the Ponsey(?) schemes we call economies. It eats growth - once there is no more capacity for growth, it collapses. Same exact concept here. They continued to cut down forest, farm and use the wood. They didn't know that there wasn't an endless supply of forest. They honestly didn't know any better when they decimated their landscape, and then Nature said 'You went too far' and the jungle reclaimed everything until about 400 years ago. I guess that's one point for the jungle.

See, my problem with this here is that in this 'information age' we know exactly what we are doing to the environment. We've known for years - it's not something new. We're not living thousands of years ago in the jungle without any thought of long-term consequences.

Yet we have the gall to call things like the manufacturing of endless cheapo goods in China, or the development of coastlines in south east asia 'progress'. But in our minds, we have not progressed from thousands of years ago. At least not all of us.

And in the end, this show points out, that us people...we think we're all just so different from the creatures that live around us. And we are, I guess. Just not in the way we thought. We're the only species on this earth with the capacity to save other species.

The question is, will we?

...by the looks of things, I think not. We're just heading toward being one big giant Angkor Wat. We're all gonna starve to death. :|

Highways, Highways, Highwaaaays!

World leaders may not agree on matters of diplomacy and fair governance, but they can agree on one thing. The world needs more highways! Whether it's Crazy Castro or Slippery Singh, they've all come to the same consensus. If you have nothing, this is aimed at you, for your benefit. We're gonna build highways through some of the world's most iconic places!

For what, you might ask? Money, of course. AKA development, for those of you still working out what the politically correct are really saying. 

You may not have plumbing, or a clean place to sleep. But rest assured, at this very moment your government is working on getting you your very own handphone. You might even get a car if you're lucky. 

A place to live is not included in this one-time only deal.

Sign up now! All that it will cost is just some old nature reserves that no one cares about anyways.

...Alright. Cheesy advertisement aside, I'm not kidding. We all know our governments are just the bee's knees, but really. 

Tanzania is currently in the process of trying to build a major highways through the Serengeti. Smart economic move, right? Wrong. About 30% of the Tanzanian economy is generated from tourism directly related to the Serengeti. Just to 'connect' the other side of the country, to which there is a road just a wee bit south of there. Go to http://www.savetheserengeti.org/ for more info. Note that I am encouraging you to do it outta good will, not because I'm just advertising and such. 

Next. Cuba. Not much to know about this one internet wise, because of the whole communist though-shalt-not-pass thing. So I mean there's very little to know. Just the usual, mining and oil-drilling companies are trying to sink their teeth into Cuban resources, conveniently placed right near one of the last strongholds for Cuban Crocodiles. And naturally, we need a four-lane highway to make that crap easier for them poor corporations. 

What might seem more relevant to this blog is the Indian catastrophe. Among other ludicrous plans for the country, they've decided that a 4-lane highway bordering one of the best know NP's was in order. They plan to change this muddy lane that is commonly accessed by some of the 30 tigers that are part of Corbett National Park into a lively industrial highway. Because their consumerism-based economy will start going back downhill if they don't keep the cash flowing. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=200250880021416&set=p.200250880021416&type=1&ref=nf As the caption finishes, "We need no external enemies. India has effective plans to destroy itself."

The Idea is Born

I’m not sure where this idea came from, but it’s stuck. I’ve known that tigers have been in a critical condition for a long time now, but I didn’t realize just how bad it was. There are a total of around 3200 tigers left in the wild, worldwide. That’s approximately one tiger to every 1,875,000 people. Half of this population is in India, and only one third are breeding females. We could be losing tigers, one of the most well known animals worldwide, completely within my lifetime. They have been mercilessly attacked by people, facing habitat encroachment, limited prey and poaching for their skin, meat and bones. It’s not their time yet, that I’m sure of. That’s why I’m doing this. Together we can make a difference – this doesn’t have to be the last year of the tiger.